MAY | Spotlight Celebrate spring’s showy flowers in Mentone The lovely rhododendron blooms in the picturesque town of Mentone get their own festival each year on the third weekend in May (this year, it’s May 2021). Besides the flowers, the Rhododendron Festival highlights the best of the little town perched atop Lookout Mountain. This year’s festival will feature a “Taste of Mentone,” with mouth-watering dishes prepared by local chefs. The festival has been a go-to event in northeast Alabama for more than 30 years. The festival is also a great showcase for musical groups, musicians, artists and craftsmen, says Ray Padgett, chairman of the committee that puts on the festival. “We’ve got a major number of artists and musicians who live in the Mentone area, which has always amazed me,” Padgett says. “Mentone’s been kind of known as an artist’s colony for years.” Around Brow Park, you’ll hear traditional mountain music and an array of live entertainment, and learn about such traditional arts as weaving, pot-throwing, quilting, chairmaking and blacksmithing. The event is free and is sponsored by the Mentone Area Preservation Association. For more information, email rhododendronfestival@gmail.com or find the event on Facebook.
| MAY 20-21 |
Top photo: Rhododendron and mountain laurel bloom along the bank of the Little River above DeSoto Falls.
Whereville, AL
Guess where this is and you might win $25! Identify and place this Alabama landmark and you could win $25! Winner is chosen at random from all correct entries. Multiple entries from the same person will be disqualified. Send your answer by May 10 with your name, address and the name of your rural electric cooperative. The winner and answer will be announced in the June issue. Contribute your own photo for an upcoming issue! Send a photo of an interesting or unusual landmark in Alabama, which must be accessible to the public. A reader whose photo is used will also win $25. Submit by email: whereville@alabamaliving.coop, or by mail: Whereville, P.O. Box 244014, Montgomery, AL 36124.
APRIL’S ANSWER
The Little River Canyon Center, which opened to the public in 2009, is a Jacksonville State University building located in Fort Payne, adjoining the Little River Canyon National Preserve. The educational center features an HD movie theater, gift shop, natural history library, exhibits, classrooms, outdoor amphitheater and trails for both education and exercise. The facility, which is available for rentals, is a part of JSU’s Environmental Policy and Information Center (EPIC). (Photo by John Whitaker, Cherokee EC) The random drawing winner for the April contest is Donna Penrod of Baldwin EMC.
Alabama Living
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